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Monday, May 23, 2011

Good to Great Discussion Questions

A while back the COCUSA full-time staff team read Good to Great by Jim Collins. I was in charge of coming up with discussion questions to help guide our thoughts as we met to discuss each chapter. I'm posting them here for all present and future CEOs to read.

Every Chapter: What is the best quote, line, or point from this chapter? And why?

Chapter 1: What would Good to Great mean for your organization? If your organization is currently at mediocre, good, or even very good, what would it look like for it to be great?

Chapter 2: Describe a Level 5 Leader in your own words.
If it's true that Level 5 leaders are essential to greatness: What's one thing you can do to become more like a Level 5 leader?

Chapter 3: What steps do we need to take to get the right people at our organization?
What challenges are there in getting the wrong people off the bus? Or getting the right people into different seats?
Where are the biggest opportunities? How can we focus on them?
What does this mean for your board of directors?

Chapter 4: Are their any brutal facts our organization needs to confront? (OR What is the 'elephant in the room' that no one wants to ask about?)
How can we create a climate where truth is heard?

Chapter 5: Explain your organization in as simple of terms as possible.
What's your organizations collective passion? What makes you tick?
What can your organization do better than anyone else?
If you could pick one thing that would keep your organization's resource engine running the best, what would it be?

Chapter 6: Where is our organization on a "fun to unwieldy ball of disorganized stuff" continuum? (Scale of 1 to 10)
Create a stop doing list for your organization: Write down 1 to 3 things you would like to stop because you truly feel fall outside of your organization's scope.
Do we have any "We vs. Them" battles in our organization? Where? How can we get rid of it?

Chapter 7: When it comes to technology, where do you feel your organization is 'lagging behind'? Or positively: What technology does your organization need to fully embrace in order to accelerate your momentum?
Are there any technologies that are directly tied to the big picture things we do?

Chapter 8: What would stop our flywheel from spinning? How can we avoid that?

Chapter 9: What would Good to Great mean for your organization? If your organization is currently at mediocre, good, or even very good, what would it look like for it to be great?
Read the last paragraph, what do you agree with? What do you disagree with? Why?